By Cheryl Saito
GLOBE-Net, February 14, 2012
- More than half of Canadians (58%) consider themselves to
be ethical consumers. These are the findings of an October 2010
benchmark study conducted by Abacus Data in partnership
with the Corporate and Community Social Responsibility
Conference.
By definition they are individuals who choose
to buy products or services that they consider ethical and
sustainable - resulting in minimal harm to, or exploitation of,
humans, animals and/or the natural environment.
In a recent article posted by Forbes, Tim Mohin describes the biggest
developments for CSR trends in 2012. Number six on the list points
to this growing movement. Headlined as "Sustainability
Shoppers", it refers to consumers being increasingly and
continually tuned in to sustainability when making their buying
decisions.
"Cause marketing" is also predicted to
continue as a growing trend within this category. Mohin points to a
2010 Cause Evolution study the reveals 83 percent of Americans want
more of the products, services and retailers they use to support
causes.
A majority of Canadians (60%) talk with friends
and family about topics relating to social responsibility. An added
challenge lies in having access to, and understanding, the
information given. Even if you are confident with the level of
sustainability activities within which a company is engaged, there
can be things that are unknown or not well understood.
Andrew Winston points out this in his article about buying 'local' food, which
presumably has less negative environmental impacts than those
products shipped to us from half-way around the world. He
points out that 83% of the average U.S. household's carbon
footprint for food comes from growing and producing it.
Transportation is only 11%.
"Smart, knowledgeable execs are consistently
surprised when good lifecycle data trumps seemingly solid
assumptions. So we shouldn't expect consumers to figure out the
right choices themselves. Buying local food seems like the obvious
choice - until you run the numbers." writes Mr. Winston.
"We have a lot of work to do, both in companies
and in our homes, to tackle climate change. Good data and analysis
will let us focus on the quickest paybacks and get the most out of
our efforts."
One source notes that consumer surveys show that
even the average consumer is demanding so-called ethical products,
such as fair trade-certified coffee and chocolate, fair
labor-certified garments, cosmetics produced without animal
testing, and products made through the use of sustainable
technologies.
But the verdict is still out if the ethical
consumer holds up at the checkout line when it comes time to paying
a higher price for a preferred product.
It's certainly not ideal if high prices get in the
way of consumers either eating well or eating ethically. But in
light of the recession, the Abacus Data survey revealed that 69% of
Canadians would be willing to pay more for a restaurant meal if
they were certain that the ingredients were grown
locally.
The good news is that there are businesses trying
to help consumers take the guesswork out of the ethical buying
equation and provide an economical advantage at the same time.
Companies like Ethicaldeal.com, whose goal is to help the
consumer discover choices that allow them to live a healthier and
greener lifestyle, offers huge discounts on the greenest products
in cities across Canada and the United States.
"Products receiving a lot of 'dollar votes' will
be profitable and will continue being produced. Likewise,
products that don't receive enough support will eventually stop
being produced," says Annalea Krebs, the company's Founder &
CEO.
"I believe that consumers ultimately decide what
will be produced in a market economy. So the shift to more
ethical consumption is really about a shift in societal
values."
Ms Krebs also believes that consumers rarely have
the information they need to act on their ethical preferences and
that transparency is essential to bring about changes in consumer
behaviour.
"Governments can play a role by forcing
companies to track supply chains and disclose ingredients and their
origins. NGO's can also play a powerful role and can bridge the gap
between government and producers."
An example of this is The Environmental
Defence Fund's, Just Beautiful Campaign which is aiming to push
Health Canada to ban the known-to-be-harmful ingredients in beauty
products and demand full disclosure of what's in the products on
Canadian shelves. New media is being used to engage consumers in
their mission in the form of a handy pocket guide that lists the
toxic ten ingredients to avoid.
Based on the foregoing, it would appear that
being an ethical consumer is not as easy as it first appears.
Clearly the media, progressive companies,
NGO's and governments need to do a better job in promoting the
value of ethical consumerism and providing consumers with the
information they need to make more informed ethical purchasing
decisions.
That way they can vote with their dollars
while keeping their values in mind.
Cheryl Saito, a freelance writer based in
Toronto, is a frequent constributor to GLOBE-Net
Today's consumers are more selective, better informed, and
expect companies to be doing more for their communities and the
environment. But what are the factors shaping the evolving
consumer demand for eco-friendly products and services? How can
companies effectively communicate with and sell to consumers who
are taking environmental and social considerations into account
when making their purchasing decisions? How can companies position
themselves favourably based on their environmental and social
performance while avoiding the risks of overstating their
achievements? These are some of the issues that will be dealt with
by a distinquished panel of retail experts at GLOBE
2012, taking place in Vancouver, March `14-16,
2012.
Confirmed Particiapants include:
Anthony Watanabe, President &
CEO, The Innovolve Group Inc., Canada (Moderator)
Ben Packard, Vice President of Global
Responsibility, Starbucks Coffee Company, USA
Michael Ramirez, Senior Vice
President of People, Places, and Administration, Herman Miller
Inc., USA
Andreas Souvaliotis, President, AIR
MILES for Social Change, Canada
Brian Zeiler-Kligman, Director of
Sustainability, Canada's National Brewers, Canada
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